


Ignite the Inferno

by AzzaJ



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: Battlefront (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Star Wars: Battlefront II Spoilers, What-If
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:07:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26303890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzzaJ/pseuds/AzzaJ
Summary: Inferno Squad was a team of the Empire's most loyal and fierce Special Forces. The idea of any of them defecting was unprecedented. The Inferno would never be extinguished, no matter what the galaxy threw at it.Here's how I think the campaign would have looked if Inferno hadn't turned traitor.
Relationships: Del Meeko & Iden Versio, Garrick Versio & Iden Versio, Gideon Hask & Del Meeko & Iden Versio, Gideon Hask & Iden Versio
Kudos: 4





	1. The Cleaner (Part 1)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first real published fanfiction so please bear with me if it's not written the best :)
> 
> Just as it says in the summary, this is what I think the campaign of Star Wars Battlefront 2 would have looked like if it stuck to what the trailers advertised.
> 
> This will be the entire campaign so the first few missions will be the same, if not with minor changes, but after The Storm we will see a whole lotta changes, with Inferno Squadron sticking together and fighting for the Empire.
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy! Constructive criticism is appreciated :)

Iden didn’t know what was worse, the U-Wing ride, where she had been surrounded by heavily armed rebels with little to no breathing room, or this overly spacious cell that she’d been stuck in. She sat on a box in the middle of the room, waiting for her interrogator to come and visit her. She’d been arrested on board a rebel corvette, attempting to sabotage its reactor. When they figured out exactly who she was, they had transferred her almost instantly to the Invincible Faith, a Mon Calamari Cruiser that had just so happened to have intercepted a very important transmission.

Outside her cell, she heard voices. A womans voice. “Captain. She’s highly trained. Deception. Infiltration. Extraction. She’s special forces.”  
Iden allowed herself a moment of satisfaction. They were scared of her. As they should be. The cell door opened. Iden was looking at the floor, so she didn’t see the captain at first. Slowly, she raised her head to look at the captain- a human male, perhaps late twenties or early thirties. Held himself with the air of someone who had once been in the Imperial Navy. Traitor. He was flanked by two armed guards, who looked at her with suspicion. She kept her eyes forwards, face carefully blank. Give nothing to them.

“Iden Versio” The captain started, slowly moving around her as he spoke. “Inferno Squad.” He stopped for a second, stood directly behind her. Standard intimidation techniques. “Commander Versio. You must be important”  
More than you will ever know.  
He walked back to stand in front of her, looking at her in silence. “Look at me” He said, his voice harder than before. Iden clenched her jaw, and turned her head to the side. He moved on, his voice somewhat friendly again “So let’s talk facts. That’s what I’m here for. You have the activation code.” He opened his arms wide, eyes not leaving her face “I’ve got the ability to help you out”. Iden turned her gaze back to the front as he finished “Just help me out”

The Captain sat down on a box in front of her, so he was eye level. “You know we could really use someone like you” More silence. Iden doubted that this man expected her to crack. He had to be smart enough to know that special forces would never break under such soft means of persuasion. She had been through ISB levels of interrogation. This was why the rebellion would fall. They were all so soft, not ready to do what needed to be done. Not like the Empire. They knew what had to be done, and they were prepared to do anything for victory.  
“Just help me and I’ll help you, it’s that easy” The Captain continued. Iden noted, as she stared him down, that his eyes were dark brown, soft and wet. The eyes of a coward.  
“I’m going to get what I want eventually” He said, something akin to smugness crossing his features. “My best technicians are slicing into your droid right now”

Iden felt herself move forward before she could stop herself. They would not touch that droid. Dio was as much a member of their team as any of the other members of Inferno. This garnered a response from the rebel guards, who had been stood at the entrance to the cell, creeping around in order to look intimidating. They raised their weapons, training their blasters at Iden’s head. They were stopped by the captain, who raised his hand to stop them doing anything ‘rash’. They should have killed her while they had the chance. The captain raised his eyebrows “Think on my offer. All I want is the code.” He stood up, keeping eye contact with Iden. She kept her gaze on him, tracking his movements with her head. “The Empire’s time has come” He said, moving back and away from her “You don’t have to go down with it”.

Iden watched him, as he moved to the door, the guards letting him pass first. Finally, she spoke. “You’re right”  
The Captain and the guards stopped, turning around to look at her. She narrowed her eyes at him “The Empire’s time has come”. If only the Rebellion knew what the Empire had in store for them. The captain would be singing a completely different tune. No matter. He would be dead or in a prison somewhere eventually. He would experience what a true interrogation felt like, and he would regret ever defecting from the Empire.

The Captain and one of the guards shared a look, and they all left. Iden was sat alone again, just her, the empty room, and her helmet, which had been put in the corner on a shelf. Iden let herself smile, a fleeting upturn of the lips that disappeared as quickly as it came. Idiots. She turned to look at the helmet. It was time. “VZ-626” She said out loud. The activation code that Dio had been waiting for. She moved from her bed to the box the captain had been sat on, relaxed, and waited.

The speaker on the helmet crackled to life as Dio’s signal came in. She could hear everything that Dio could hear. “What have we here? An ID10 Tactical Droid! You’re way more advanced than the ID9. Slicing into you is not going to be easy”  
“Might I suggest a less invasive procedure?” A mechanical voice, possibly a protocol droid, added.  
“I wish I could, but we don’t have this droid’s access code”  
“Might I suggest finding the access code?”  
“The captain’s working on that in the detention centre. Until then, the only way to access this droid’s data is to pry the memory core out of its shell”  
The protocol droid’s voice became slightly more concerned “Analysis shows this ID10 has been modified with an electroshock prod”  
“Which can’t do anything if the droid is deactivated. Until it hears the access code, this ID10 can’t do-”  
Iden smiled grimly as she heard the sound of screaming, a thump, and then silence. A second later, Dio let out a confirmation beep. Dio was online and ready to move.  
Keeping her voice down to not disturb the guards outside, Iden spoke. “Droid, execute the plan. Download the ship’s schematics from their computers, then come find me”  
Another confirmation beep, and then silence again. Iden sighed quietly. She hated having to wait. She had to rely on Dio for the first half of the operation, whilst she sat, useless, in the detention cell. And if someone decided to come in and further interrogate Iden, or investigate the technician’s bay, then the entire operation was in jeopardy.

The helmet speaker crackled as Dio beeped- objective complete. Iden looked at the camera in the side of the room, directly at where she expected Dio to be watching. “Use the ventilation system to reach me” She whispered. Dio couldn’t be caught by the rebels, and if it was, pretending it was a simple droid would not work- it had recently had its black paint retouched by Agent Meeko. Rebel’s didn’t wear black.  
As Dio moved through the vents, she could hear snippets of conversation from different rebels, unaware of the droid above them. They were discussing her, Iden noted. They really were not comfortable with Iden’s presence onboard their precious ship. Understandable. Yet they brought her on anyway. Foolish. She heard rebels discussing the attack on Endor- the attack that they didn’t think the Empire knew about. Naive.  
Above her, the intercom exploded into life, which reflected with what Dio was hearing. “Incoming message from Admiral Ackbar. Key personnel, please report to the briefing room immediately”  
Another, more concerned beeping from Dio. Iden glanced outside of her cell, where she could see at least 4 different rebel guards all patrolling. Dio had its shock prod, that was it. Against armed rebel guards, it would be shot to pieces almost straight away. “There are too many rebels outside my cell. Find another way”. 

Silence again, and then more rebel chatter. Discussing Endor again. She heard mention of some of the squadrons that were being summoned- Gold, Green, Corona, Blade, Red. Known rebel ace squadrons, Iden noted with satisfaction. All would be destroyed. The Emperor would spring the trap, and the Rebellion heroes would be wiped out all in one go. That would cause the rest of the alliance to collapse, and peace would finally, after years of war, return to the galaxy. Iden could finally rest.  
“Entering Lockdown. Please maintain security protocols”  
Iden’s blood froze. That wasn’t part of the plan. She thought quickly. If Dio could disable the lockdown, even temporarily, that was their window to complete phase one. “Lockdown. You’ll need to deactivate it from one of their terminals” She hissed. Dio responded with a confirmation beep. “Contact me when it’s done”  
A couple of minutes passed, and Iden had started to get slightly nervous. She hadn’t heard anything from Dio’s end, but she hadn’t heard blasterfire either. It was possible that wherever Dio was, it was just being sneaky, and trying to not get caught. She shifted in her seat, feeling the sweat behind her armour. Deep breaths. Worrying would get her nowhere. 

A beep from the helmet. Dio had succeeded. Iden felt her shoulders relax. “If your done, regroup with me. It’s time” She said, smiling to herself. Not long now and then she’d be out, and killing rebels. Agent Hask would have literally killed to be in this position. Then again, Agent Hask wanted to just destroy the entire ship. He had been adamant that was the best idea, but Agent Meeko had pitched the infiltration plan. Less suspicious, less likely to make the rebel commanders realise that something was up. Realise that their pathetic plan had been caught onto by the Empire. Realise that their entire fleet was about to burn in a system in the middle of nowhere, never to be mourned, never to be missed, never to even be thought about ever again. Iden looked up. She could hear something. A low humming, and the tiniest tapping of pipes. She turned her attention to the pipes running along the left-hand side of the room, where she could just make out one red light, shining softly. “I can hear you through the vents. You’re close” She said, not bothering to whisper any more. The guards outside had moved on, heading to listen to the briefing, she supposed. One guard was left to guard her cell, but he wasn’t anywhere nearby. She looked out the room, making sure that noone was coming, as she heard the vent access port behind her open. She turned her head, watching as Dio dropped from the ceiling. She raised her cuffed hands as Dio approached, and cut the cuffs off. Standing up, she nodded at Dio with a smile “Right on time”. Turning to her helmet, she walked over. “Let’s go” she said, grabbing the helmet. She could feel Dio strapping itself to her back as she put her helmet on, and switched her comm frequency from open to the special encrypted channel used only for Inferno Squad members. It was time.


	2. The Cleaner: Part 2

“Agent Hask, do you read me?” Iden had sent as soon as the confirmation that the encryption was secure. The helmet felt comfortable around her head, like a familiar presence. Her HUD lit up with various monitors- her armour integrity, Dio’s systems, comms channels. The Empire spared no expense for the best of the best. Looking at Dio’s systems, she saw that it’s shock prod had recharged, and it’s scanning device was online. Not much, but they had to appear unprepared when they were captured. Weak, and defenceless. Fools. Inferno Squadron was never defenceless, and certainly never weak. As if to demonstrate this fact, Iden recovered her baton from a hidden compartment in her armour, feeling it’s heavy, yet stable grip in her hand.  
“Loud and clear, Commander Versio. You’re right on time” Her second, Agent Hask replied. He had a pleased inflection to his voice, like he had been waiting around the communications relay for some time. He probably had, playing it off like he was simply in mission mindset. Agent Meeko would have been worrying, if Iden hadn’t given him the most vital job.  
“I’m moving to the communications centre” Iden said, flexing her back and then pointing at the door. Flexing her back meant Dio was alerted that she wanted something, and pointing at the door meant… well, it meant she wanted the door opened. When first working with Dio, herself and Agent Meeko, who had brought the droid into the team, had pondered how to get Dio to respond to certain unspoken instructions. A flex of her shoulders turned out to be the best bet, but often the droid thought for itself- enabling defences, hacking doors, shocking enemies. It truly was a valuable member of the team. Iden thought grimly about the original fourth member of their team. Seyn. She would have been pacing around the bridge in clear worry.Iden missed Seyn, hated that she had to be the one to kill her. She would never forgive the Dreamers for that one.  
“Copy that” Hask cut through the thoughts that were swirling through Iden’s head. She mentally thanked him for that. His voice, though sometimes gruff and grating, was plenty cause to shake her out of her less than positive thoughts. Since they met on Vardos years ago, Hask has always had a way of keeping Iden on track, even if he didn’t know it.  
“Once I’ve located and destroyed the stolen Imperial message, I will signal for extraction” Iden said, as the door hissed open. Hask made no attempt to reply, and Iden got on with her mission.

In front of her was the single guard they had left to monitor the prisoners. Iden moved silently, ducking down slightly to keep her profile hidden. Her hand clutched the baton, ready to take down the guard. He made no move to attack her, his back to her as she approached. When she was right on top of him, she struck. She wrapped her arms around his neck, he straightened in surprise, hand going up to grab her arm. She gripped him in a choke hold, her other hand gripping the baton, and tightening it. She could hear his panicked gurgles as he tried to breathe, but it was no use. Soon, his body slacked, and the choking stopped. Iden quietly lowered the body to the ground, not bothering to check for a pulse. Dead or alive, the guard wouldn’t wake up before she was long gone. Moving on ahead was another guard, back turned to Iden. Iden swept her legs from under her, then brought the baton down on her head. The guard stopped moving. This was too easy.

“Have the rebels figured out you wanted to be caught?” Hask’s voice came through Iden’s helmet. Iden smiled, looking down at the unconscious guard  
“Never crossed their mind”  
Iden moved away from the body, looking at the shut door that would lead her out of the detention bay. Dio moved over, accessing the port by the door. It opened without ceremony.  
“To be fair, we’re operating outside protocol. We should have just blown up their ship” Hask muttered, subtle venom laced into his words. If they were in person, Iden would have rolled her eyes at him. But she was deep in enemy territory, so she just kept moving.  
“Would have raised too many questions. For this to work, we need to be subtle” She retorted. They had this conversation before, when the mission was given to them. Hask had suggested a Star Destroyer just go and finish the job, but Agent Meeko had provided the infiltration idea. Iden had agreed, and the operation had started. Safe to say, Hask still was not happy with it.  
“I understand, Commander” Hask replied, resignation in his voice. Turning the corner, Iden saw a small corridor, with a large room on the other side. In the other room were a lot of rebels. Ducking down, Iden crawled out of the line of sight of the scum in the next room. She could hear the fish-head Ackbar talking to them via transmission. Iden moved quickly and quietly, only catching snippets of the transmission:  
“-with this ruse, we will divert the Empire’s attention away from Sullust. We are amassing the fleet in preparation for our attack on Endor. Join us, we need-”  
The rest was lost as Iden turned the corner, away from the Rebels, and towards a pistol rack.

“The Rebels still think we don’t know about Sullust. They have no idea what’s waiting for them at Endor” Hask said. Iden grabbed one of the blasters, examining it, and switching off the safety as she replied.  
“We need to keep it that way. If the Rebels decrypt that transmission before I delete it, everything will fall apart”  
Admiral Versio had made it explicitly clear that they were to get to that transmission before the Rebels could decrypt it. “The destruction of the Rebellion lies on Inferno’s shoulders, Commander” He had said to her in the briefing. No pressure or anything.  
Dio moved to the door, unlocking it. Iden followed through into the next corridor. Up ahead, a room that would lead her to her objective. But the room was full of Rebels, all working diligently at the controls. Iden’s grip on the blaster tightened. She couldn’t afford to be spotted, not now. So she would have to sneak. Holstering the blaster, she brought her baton back out, and approached the nearest Rebel. A few quick hits and they were out. On a bridge to her left, two rebels stood talking. Close enough to each other that a shock would incapacitate them both. Iden flexed her back, whispering “Bridge. Shock ‘em”. Dio released from her back, and as it went towards them, Iden went towards the final Rebel. They hit them at the same time, Iden’s baton making short work of the Rebel as the sound of crackling electricity and two thumps were heard. The two imperials met up at the door to the communications centre, Iden watching their flank as Dio hacked the door open. This was too easy, Iden thought, eyes scanning the area around them. The Rebellion was at the pinnacle of their ‘power’, as feeble as that may be. She was onboard a fully staffed Mon Calamari Cruiser, and no one had noticed the trail of bodies Iden had left? No one had gone to check on the detention area?

No wonder the Rebellion would fall.

A chirp from Dio, and the door opened. Iden moved in, quietly. Two rebels were in the next room, talking. Dio’s shock prod was still recharging, So Iden would have to be quiet. But they were stood talking to each other. There was no way for her to take them both out without alerting one or the other. She would have to be quick. She ducked down behind a terminal, slowly moving until she was just to the side of the guards. She took a breath, and then sprang. Jumping up, she grabbed the closest guards head and rammed it against a terminal. The second guard cried out, raising his weapon, but Iden threw the first guard into him, sending the two rebels flying. Pulling out her blaster, she aimed it at the second guard, who had pushed the first off of him, and fired one bolt into his head. His head snapped back, and he slumped to the floor again. Iden put another bolt into the first guard, for good measure. Looking around to make sure no alarms had been sounded- they hadn’t-, she commed Hask.  
“Agent Hask, I’ve reached the communication centre. Deleting the message will trigger their alarms. Be ready for extraction”  
“Understood” Hask replied, before the comm went quiet. Glancing around, she saw that no one had come to investigate the scuffle. Flexing her back and pointing at the door, Iden watched their flank as Dio opened the door. A hiss, and the door was open. Iden turned to the communications centre, as the technician inside complained. She couldn’t see his face, as he had his back to her, but he seemed aggravated. She smirked. Too trusting. A squeeze of the trigger, and the technician slumped against the terminal. Iden moved the cooling body onto the floor with a push, and then began to type the access code in. The holoprojector next to her lit up, and Moff Raythe’s head and torso appeared.  
“This is Moff Raythe. We have new orders.”  
Iden glanced behind her, to make sure no one was running in, as the transmission continued: “The Imperial Fleet will move to the far side of Endor. There, we will wait for the Rebels to attack, then-”  
Iden cut the transmission. She knew the orders. The Corvus had received the same transmission. Typing quickly, Iden erased the transmission. No one would ever know until it was too late. “Purge complete” She said to Dio “There’s nothing for the Rebels to learn”

A siren shrieked above her, a female voice, panicked, over the intercom “Attention, an Imperial prisoner has escaped! She is extremely dangerous! Find her!”  
Dio released from Iden’s back, and darted to the door, sealing it shut, just before a Rebel slammed into the door, pounding on the glass. Iden watched them struggle against the door. She also noticed a weapons rack, with a rifle attached. Perfect. She switched her comms back to the encrypted channel as she approached “Agent Hask. It’s time”  
Almost instantly, a reply came through “Beginning preparations”  
“I’ll secure a blaster and reach the extraction point” She took the rifle, swapping it for the pistol she had been using, dropping that on the floor. “I’m on the move”  
“So is the Corvus”  
Tilting her head in the direction of the door, Dio flew over to it, plugging into the doors systems. The rebel on the other side took a few steps back, but it was for naught. The door opened, and Iden opened fire, putting a few rounds into her. The area exploded into blaster rounds, the smell of ion filling the air. The rebels on the other side of the door didn’t stand a chance. They had worse cover and worse training. Iden took them out with ease, moving over the still smoking bodies as she made her way to a nearby airlock.

In the large room with the walkway, Rebel forces had set up over their fallen friends, firing at her as soon as she turned the corner. Iden ducked back into cover. “Droid, go for the shock” She said, poking her head back out as she gave suppressive fire. Dio released from her back, moving along the roof, until he floated over to the Rebels in cover and zapped them all. Screaming, and a series of thuds. Iden moved up, Dio attaching to her back as she moved. Below her, blaster bolts appeared, missing her by centimetres. Glancing down, she saw more rebels. She didn’t have time to take them out, so she kept moving. Down the stairs, through the door. Turning quickly, she fired at the door console, slamming them shut just as Rebels started coming down the stairs. “Need a slice” Iden ordered, peering through the glass of the door as Dio hacked into it. The sirens around her were loud, and frankly rather annoying. She moved through a brightly lit corridor, breath calm but heavy in her helmet as she moved. The slight tint of her visor helped her with the bright lights, she didn’t have to squint as she moved through the ship. Imperial Star Destroyers had much better lighting. She turned a corner and immediately opened fire at the rebels who were starting to swarm through a door at the other end of the corridor. She took two down, before she changed her aim and hit a panel at the side of the door, slamming the door before they could bring reinforcements. Iden took a glance behind her, to make sure no one was trying to flank her, then she kept moving. She turned right, then slowed down. Two rebels were moving away from her, as an announcement over the intercom from the now frantic captain of the ship. Iden didn’t listen. Instead she silently moved behind one of the rebels, kicking her in the joint of her leg, bringing the rebel to her knees. Iden then smashed the butt of the rifle into the side of her temple, dropping her. The other rebel spotted her and let out a cry of alarm, before Iden shot him as well.

The next room was full of rebels. There was no way Iden could get past all of them. She was going to have to kill them. That would remove some of her valuable time. She took cover by one of the doors, before moving in, blaster already lit up. She took out one, two, three rebels before her blaster overheated, and she ducked into cover behind a terminal. Another three hostiles were firing at her from above, and two more were on her level. “Droid, top floor. Shock ‘em” Iden said, shrugging her shoulders as Dio released and scurried away. Iden waited for the telltale scream before she moved. Darting from her cover around the side of another console, Iden flanked the two rebels, and opened fire. The first was caught by surprise, and fell, a smoking husk. The other managed to fire a round at Iden before she fell. The round hit Iden in her left shoulder, causing her to stumble. She grit her teeth, rolling her shoulder to check for damage. A dull ache, which meant no real injuries. Her armour had absorbed most of the impact, so she kept moving. As she moved through the adjacent corridor, Dio attached itself to her back again. A rebel on the other side of the hallway tried to hit her, but she dropped him without much fanfare. She then sealed the door for good measure, as more rebels turned the corner. She ran into some kind of storage room, where a couple rebels turned to her, eyes widening, and weapons raising. They clearly didn’t expect to see her here.

A couple of seconds later, they didn’t see anything again.

In the next room, a room with some kind of terminal, two rebels moved to catch her, yelling at her to stand down. Dio chirped as it noted an explosive container to the side of the terminal. Iden smirked, and switched her aim. A couple of shots to the container, and it went up in flames, taking the rebels, the terminal, and a good chunk of the room with it. She turned left, avoiding the now burning room. Two rebels were in cover on either side of the far door. Iden paused. If she moved, they’d have a clear shot and she would be in trouble. But…  
“Droid, two hostiles at the end of the corridor” She said, ducking into cover. Dio chirped, fell off her back, and began to climb the wall. It climbed the roof, scurrying like a womp-rat, before descending on the two rebels, electroshock prod already lighting up. A confirmation beep from the other end of the corridor allowed Iden to move up, looking at the two downed rebels as she passed, still twitching. “Good job” She said, approvingly. Dio chirped its satisfaction, and then dived for cover as laserfire began to rain down on the two of them from above. Cursing, Iden fell back into the corridor she just came from. The room ahead had no cover at all. She would have to run. Across the way, a rebel with a heavy rifle began to lumber through a door, his weapon already coming up. Damn it. Her eyes glanced to the control panel next to him, and she forced herself to relax, to raise the weapon, and fire at the panel. It hit dead on, and the door slammed on top of the brute. His scream was cut short by a crunch, and then silence. The rebels on the top balcony seemed to stop as well, for a brief second, and Iden took it. She launched herself into a sprint, running past the crushed body of the brute, past the flurry of blaster bolts that followed her, into a new room- letting off some quick shots that took down two approaching rebels- down some stairs, just stopping by a sealed door. She shrugged, Dio flying off, and attached itself to the console. Iden turned, covering their flank. The door started to open, and then stopped. Iden spared herself a glance. It was jammed. Gritting her teeth, she watched for hostile movement. Which, judging by the angry shouts coming from both the corridor she just came from and a separate corridor on the other side of the room, there was going to be a lot of. She adjusted the grip of her weapon, and waited.

The first wave came quickly. They were taken out just as quickly. Only a couple, the more excitable ones. The others moved more cautiously, spreading out so it was harder to hit them. Iden ducked behind a terminal, poking out only to fire at the rebels. She took two out before rebels started swarming from the second corridor. “Come on Dio” She hissed, jamming her rifle under into the stomach of a rebel that got too close, and firing. She then used the butt of said rifle to break the nose of a rebel that tried to grab her from behind. Dio chirped, and the door opened. Iden fired a few more rounds, but a stray bolt hit her weapon, and it unceremoniously died. Iden tossed it at the rebels, turned tail, and sprinted down the newly open door, Dio hot on her tail. The rebels gave chase, still firing at her even though they were running. Iden ducked and weaved, breath heavy, her injured shoulder starting to burn a bit. She was so close now. She could not afford to be captured. Not now. They were so close. She turned the corner, just as two more rebel brutes came out of the end of the corridor, weapons already raised. Come on, Iden. She gritted her teeth. She could see her destination just in front of her, but the brutes were almost there. But they didn’t have speed on their side. Iden did. She could hear the rebels behind her as well, footsteps heavy on the ground. There! She darted left, into the airlock room. She began to slow down, punching the release button on the console. The airlock shut behind her, and she turned just as the rebels got there, one of them so close they collided with the sealed door. “Agent Hask, I’m in position” She said, breath coming heavy as she glared at the rebels on the other side of the airlock. She took a couple steps back, feeling herself relax. Her part was done, now. Time for Agent Meeko to do his thing.   
“Understood, Commander” Agent Hask’s voice came through “Prepare for extraction”  
The airlock depressurised around her as the countdown came in “Three” The rebels realised what she was doing, and stopped trying to get in. “Two” Iden continued to walk back, grinning behind her helmet. Dio strapped itself onto her back, securing its grip. Iden threw a salute at the rebels, who were now watching hopelessly behind the screen. “One” Iden crossed her arms, and tensed, forcing her body to not move at all, as the airlock opened. And then the rebels, the airlock, the ship itself were gone as Iden was launched into space.

Space was calming. No noise, just her, Dio, and the vastness. The Mon Calamari Cruiser got further and further away, and Iden maneuvered her body so she was facing away from the ship. Her armour kept her from exploding and being torn apart in the vacuum, and droids didn’t die in space. She looked up, so she could see where she was going. Her breathing slowed to a steady pace, the inbuilt suit life support keeping her breathing. She continued to float through space for a few more seconds, her eyes scanning the area in front of her. Any second now…  
Where there was once space, a Raider-Class Imperial Corvette now existed in front of her, slowing down from the jump it had just made. It maneuvered so its hangar bay was in front of her, and said hangar bay opened up, the blast shields opening. Iden braced for the impact. She passed through the shield, and the gravity generators kicked in, Iden dropping to the ground painfully, her shoulder screaming at her. She rolled across the deck, Dio making some displeased sounds, until they slowed down and stopped. Getting up, she turned to face the Mon Calamari Cruiser as the blast shields started to close. She took her helmet off, letting it hang in her arm as she smiled, victorious. She heard the ships automatic warning kick off that they were being fired at at the same time she saw ion rounds be fired from the Cruiser. She then felt the ship lurch as they re-entered hyperspace. Mission complete.

Making her way to the armoury, she deposited her helmet by her locker, handed Dio to the techs for repairs, then made her way to the bridge for debriefing. The ship’s medic insisted that he applied bacta to Iden’s wound, but she told him it could wait. A couple of her crew smiled and congratulated her as she passed them towards the bridge. When she got there, she saw Gideon Hask standing at the viewport of the bridge, looking out into hyperspace. “Agent Hask” She said in greeting. Hask turned, a grin on his face  
“Commander on Deck” Hask moved towards her, heading to the terminal that Agent Del Meeko was currently hovering over. “Mission accomplished, Commander”  
“With zero casualties. Looks like you're still second in command” She said, a slight smile on her face, the adrenaline slowly diminishing.  
“Oh, I’m patient.” Hask replied, smile friendly but eyes not. “I can wait”  
Hask and Iden had different views on how to accomplish missions. Hask had a more violent method that involved no survivors. Iden preferred to wait, taking her time before striking at her enemies, gathering the information she needed and then making it out before they knew what hit them. This often put them at odds. The Dreamers mission was a perfect example of this. But they were a team, they had known each other since childhood, they were Inferno Squad. They had to work together otherwise they would fall.  
“Agent Meeko!” She clapped a hand on Del’s back, he turned to look at her with a smile. “Those jump calculations were perfect”  
“Thank you, ma’am. Hope the landing wasn’t too much” He sounded slightly apologetic. Meeko was a good soldier, and a good friend. He often sided with Iden on mission ideas.  
“Been through worse. Remember the Ja-bess incursion?”  
“Still haunts my dreams” Del replied. Iden had had to go to physio for weeks after that mission. Insurgent terrorists, exploding towers, a high speed chase on a old Republic LAAT/I against a Stinger Luxury Yatch with a crew of Jedi, and to top it off, a dramatic escape on speeder bikes that ended with Iden tearing two of her four ligaments in her left leg, and shattering her right kneecap. Not to mention what happened to the rest of Inferno Squad.

Iden switched the holoprojectors view from the Mon Calamari Cruiser they had just escaped, to the weapon they had been protecting: The DS-2 Battle Station in construction over Endor. “Contact the Admiral”  
“Yes, Commander” Hask prepared to do that, then glanced up “And the message?”  
Iden smiled “The fleets location is still safe”. The map zoomed out to reveal the Endor System. Iden leaned in, focused on the Death Star, satisfaction in her voice.   
“Today, the Rebellion dies.”


End file.
